Once the Acacias Bloomed

by Fred Spiegel

This memoir, "Once the Acacias Memories of a Childhood Lost," will be an important contribution to the study of the Holocaust. Fred Spiegel provides the reader with the significance of the lives of the victims and survivors prior to 1933 and for the survivors after 1945. His story during the years of 1933-45 ranges from his experiences as a child during "Kristallnacht" to the camps and then liberation. Each of these episodes will assist students in learning about the Holocaust and its effect on children. Reading and discussing the memoir will meet the New Jersey Holocaust and Genocide mandate legislated in 1994. The New Jersey Commission on Holocaust Education endorses the reading of this memoir by middle and high school students.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Memoir

175 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2004

Reviews

[Raelynn Genovese-Mento]

I had the pleasure of meeting Fred in middle school. While the book isn’t extremely informative/dramatic, it still shares the important parts of Fred’s story. Interesting, quick read.

[Jessica]

I was very excited to read this book as I have a strong interest in the Holocaust and to read a book written by a real life survivor was something I couldn't pass up. I was very disappointed immediately and I soon realized that the book lacked emotion and seemed to have very little detail about what was experienced. I continued to read in hopes that the book would get better, but by the end of the book, I was left feeling nothing. The Holocaust was a tragic event and one should not read a book about such an event and feel nothing. The author gave many details that seemed meaningless and excluded much of what would have drawn the reader into the book. I wonder if the author gave such a disconnected account of the things that occurred due to the trauma that he experienced being a Holocaust victim; none the less the book is not worth the time it takes to read.

[Autumn Beahm]

I only became aware of this book while visiting the Holocaust museum in D.C. The author was signing copies and since I love most books regarding WWII or that time period, I was intrigued. It is his personal memoir of his life during that time. Well written, although it didn't capture me as much as I had hoped. Still, it is yet another view of the sad events that took place, not that long ago.

[Chante]

This was a collection of memmories of a survivor of the Holocaust. I met the author in person and was deeply touched by his desire to tell his story of life seperated from his mother and the reasons he survived when so many did not.

[Nicole]

I got this book after I personally met Mr. Spiegel. He came to my school and and was signing and handing out books. He was an interesting man, and I was honored to meet and hear the stories from a Holocaust survivor.

[Dunia Villegas Almendarez]

I liked how the author used words to describe the climax and the conflicts in the story about his childhood during the Holocaust.

[Joe Albanese]

For a personal memoir about the Holocaust, the essays seemed to lack emotion. For some parts it works to its advantage, making awful actions seemingly ordinary as if it were the point, but I think some of the stories could have used more emotional input... What was the fear, heartbreak, distress, relief, etc... Like for the author and those he knew during the time.